Recent content by rambler

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  1. R

    Hiking GSMNP

    I have done a five day loop out of Cosby Campground...AT to Icewater to Mt. Le Conte and back via Old Settlers. There are some nice loops out of Cosby's including one to Mt. Cammerer. Mte. Le Comte has some cabins and a hut like set up for meals. Cades Cove is a small version of Sturbridge...
  2. R

    My boots smell aweful...

    Fill them with coffee beans. Let them sit overnight. Afterwards, there must be someone at work you would like to give the beans to.
  3. R

    Glenn Boulder to Isolation

    Weather permitting: up Boot Spur, over to Isolation, back down Glen Boulder. The hike back to Pinkham is only about a mile and an easier hike along the road rather than the trail. When you are at the jct of Davis and Glen B., you will be looking down on Isolation. One of the best hikes in the...
  4. R

    Day Hike Suggestions - Smokies

    Here is a 2 mile hike (one way) that will get the adrenelin flowing: hike up to the jagged Chimney Tops from a trail off the Gap road up from Gatlinberg just beyond (uphill from) the tunnel. http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2971407940045831896IOEWgU From the top of the road up to Clingmans...
  5. R

    Day Hike Suggestions - Smokies

    Well, Mark S, I did not get a view from Clingmans or the Bunion, but was rewarded at Cammerer. The note the ridge line in #101, a typical wooded up and down. http://community.webshots.com/album/558534338QZsqZQ
  6. R

    Day Hike Suggestions - Smokies

    Atop Mt. Cammerer is a unique building with great views. It can be reached from the Low Gap trail and AT out of Cosby Campgrounds off Highway 32. The trailhead parking lot does not require a fee. 5.6 mile one way, moderate hike. The easiest trail to Mt. C, is the AT from Davenport Gap about...
  7. R

    Winter gear list critique

    Ditto to the bivy and insulated pad. You need to be prepared to spend an emergency night out. Blocking the cold from the ground will really help. Lying on the ground with all the warm clothes you have, you would probably make it, but add a pad and a bivy and you will be a lot more...
  8. R

    stabilicers vs. crampons

    Well, I was carrying crampons yesterday hiking in the Whites, never used them, but I could have used stabilicers. Coming down the steep ledges of South Balface just below the cut-off, I found the rocks mostly bare, except for dangerous patches of black ice. Ice just thin enough to be...
  9. R

    Hut-to-Hut Systems

    Never been there, but http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/wildernesspress/sno_ntahoe4.htm
  10. R

    Hut-to-Hut Systems

    The lodge in the Smokey National Park mentioned by AskUs has a series of cabins to accomadate small groups or families. There is a larger central building where meals are served. Within a short distance up the trail is a shelter, like those along the AT where one can stay for free with a...
  11. R

    Headlamp

    I have this model, but not in the camo color. I like it because the batteries and light are in the same unit. It can swivel down. It has a spot that lights the trail several yards ahead rather than just near your feet. It has the three separate bulbs that have three intensity settings and...
  12. R

    How much snow did you get...and a big storm next week

    4-6 inches of heavy wet snow on southern sections of Mt. Mansfield. Enough to ski on! The summit probably got more.
  13. R

    Boston Chapter (AMC) Winter Hiking Program

    The AMC parking discount at the recently renovated Boston Common Underground Garage a short walk from Joy St. makes parking convenient and reasonable.
  14. R

    Alone in the dark...

    Well, I wish I had been alone in one shelter in the Smokies this summer. A guy would not stop talking. Finally around mid-night he said he quess we would like him to be quiet, but he kept right on talking. He mentioned that a few years after high school, he decided to go to college, and moved...
  15. R

    Snake ID ?

    http://www.umass.edu/nrec/snake_pit/pages/timber.html As I moved by the snake I looked direectly down on its head. I saw no coloring other than a solid dark. The white bands were evident, but I di not notice any other white within the triangles as appear in the photo of the diamond back...
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